6. Will the Minister make a statement on National Lottery funding for projects in Wales? OAQ53709

Thank you for that question. As we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of National Lottery, I'm delighted to give you the figures that National Lottery players have supported over 50,000 projects across Wales, to the tune of £1.75 billion of investment. As part of my role as Minister, I have oversight of the National Lottery spend, and therefore have regular discussions with National Lottery about the direction of travel and the direction of spend.

Thank you very much, Minister. A recent report from the House of Lords, which you happen to be a Member of, warned of the potential danger that Brexit could make arts funding more London centric. Concerns have been raised about the fairness of the location of lottery funding and that some parts of London have received 10 times more money per head of the population than in Wales. In London, they're having 10 times more per person, per head, than in Wales. Minister, what discussions have you had with the Arts Council for Wales and Camelot about reducing this imbalance in funding in light of the findings of your House of Lords report?

Well, I have to disagree with my colleagues in the upper House. Clearly, I'm not a regular attender and neither is my colleague—it is rather ironic that we have two Members of the House of Lords in one department in this Assembly. The answer is that I don't think it is possible really to compare public spending in London through lottery funds with other parts of the United Kingdom—and clearly he knows London as much as I do—partly because you have there the headquarters of many organisations, you also have a massive diversity of artistic and other activities, and other lottery potential candidate activities. Therefore, what I have always sought to do is to ensure that the lottery spend in Wales reflects the proportion of applications that is made and that that is equitable within Wales. I have no control over the lottery spending, as such; I have oversight of the way it is spent in Wales. But I will ask for further discussion with the lottery in Wales in relation to the spend at the UK level, with particular reference to your question, which I'm grateful to receive. 

And finally, question 7, Huw Irranca-Davies.